Welcome to Connecticut!

By Bob Deakin

I drove from Florida to Connecticut by myself the other day.

At least I thought I was by myself. Turns out I had company. This little guy, who looks like the one in the photos, came along for the ride. I saw him on the wall outside, next to my car, before I left. He jumped right in front of me as I was loading a suitcase but I was careful to shut the door so he wouldn’t get in as it would have taken some time to get him out, as it was still dark.

I thought he jumped under the car as I closed the door but I guess he made it inside. Ten states, 1,200 miles, an overnight stay in a Virginia hotel, no food or water and lots of podcasts later, he managed to endure the trip.

No More Florida Man for This Guy

The good news is he or she (let’s assume it’s a boy) looks just as good as when we left. He seems young and I fear he misses his mother. The bad news is he’s not going to see her again. I’m going to be here for a little bit and planning to drive back alone. He escaped when I discovered him Thursday night and seemed to enjoy hopping around on this nice warm September evening in Connecticut.

He vanished into the woods when I opened the door and there was no way I could have found him. Compounding the issue was the fact that I didn’t care. I reasoned it’s nice here in Connecticut and other than high taxes and cost of housing, he’ll probably do well, at least for a couple weeks.

At less than an inch long, he's not an easy catch but that's not to say he's not a good catch. He seems attractive for a frog and I'm sure he's got stuff going on.

He may be a ladies' frog but I'm pretty sure he's a Florida tree frog, so I ask myself the inevitable question: How’s he going to handle it when it gets cold, which is likely to happen soon? Not well, I’m thinking, but I looked up different types of frogs and it turns out several species adapt to survive in freezing weather by hibernating. Maybe he's one of them.

What if he can’t? Then I guess he’ll have to find another car to jump in that’s heading south. I apologize if I don’t sound sympathetic to his situation but it’s beyond my control. I suppose I could have tried a little harder to catch him when I discovered he was in the car Thursday night but his sudden jump momentarily distracted me, and he deliberately hopped away. He made a conscious decision to evade and strike out on his own.

I feel bad about his potential failure to adapt to the cold but he’s got a few weeks before it will freeze. I’m praying for his safety and I’ll make it a point to look out for him in the neighborhood later today, maybe tomorrow. It’s an unfortunate situation but not my fault. I’ve got a writing project to get to.

Did I invite him along for the ride? Is no one accountable anymore?

Welcome to Connecticut

Florida encompasses more than 65,000 prime square miles for a tree frog and he decides to jump into my 40 square-foot car while I'm distracted. Whose fault is that?

Welcome to Connecticut buddy!

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